Ellen Petee Obituary

Ellen Jean Petee

Nov 7, 1946 - Nov 21, 2025

Savannah

Ellen Jean Petee, 79, was called home to be with her Lord and Savior Friday, November 21, 2025, passing peacefully at her home in Savannah, Georgia, surrounded by the love of her family.

Born November 7, 1946, in Norwalk, Ellen was the daughter of Hobert and Beatrice (Boose) Riggleman. She married the love of her life, Gary Petee, June 10, 1967, in Norwalk, and together they built a home filled with love, laughter, and unwavering support for one another.

Ellen graduated from Mercy School of Nursing in Toledo, as a registered nurse. Her love for nursing began at Flower Hospital in Toledo. She and her family moved to Waco, Texas, in 1974, and then to Riverdale, Georgia, in 1980, where she worked at Clayton General Hospital and then at Visiting Nurse Association in Atlanta, Georgia. In the early 90s she and Gary moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she eventually left nursing to become a nurse investigator for the ombudsman for Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, or MIFA. With MIFA, her dreams of fighting for the unjust care of the sick and elderly became her passion. She took great pride in ensuring that all facilities cared for all persons equally, with dignity and grace.

Ellen's greatest calling was caring for her large family and many lifelong friends. She was the oldest of eight siblings in the Riggleman family, with four brothers and three sisters. After her parents' passing, she took on the role of matriarch of the Rigglemans. The person everyone relied on, putting the needs of others before her own without hesitation. Her resilience in the face of life's adversities was handled with great faith, strength of spirit, and grace. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in her late 50s, breast cancer in her mid-60s and then colon cancer in 2024. She was a member of St. Helena Catholic Church in Clayton, Georgia, and lived her faith through compassion, humility, and service.

Ellen found joy in life's simple, beautiful moments. She loved baking, cooking meals for family and friends and gardening. She had a lifelong joy of reading, playing games with her grandchildren, putting together puzzles and relaxing daily with a wide variety of word puzzles. Above all, she treasured time with her family, especially 'Rawring' with her great-grandson Kyle, who loves dinosaurs.

In addition to her parents, Hobert and Beatrice Riggleman, she is preceded in death by her husband Gary; her infant daughter, Mary Elizabeth; her brother, Mark Riggleman; her sister, Maribel Brown; and her sister, Julie Ann Montgomery, who passed the day prior to her passing.

She is survived by her children, Mary Anne Strickland and Karen (Wallace) Rowe; and her beloved grandchildren, Cameron (Ashley) Taylor, Megan (David) Fontana, and Madison Strickland; and her four great-grandchildren, Ansley, Gabriel, and Caroline Taylor and Kyle Fontana.

Ellen is also survived by her siblings, John (Kathy) Riggleman, Michael (Janet) Riggleman, Robert (Chris) Riggleman and Kathy Kaman.

Per Ellen's wishes, she will be cremated. There will be no public visitation or service at this time. Her cremains will be laid to rest at a private inurnment Mass in Clayton, Georgia, at a later date. Finally, a celebration of her life will be at a later date in Ohio for family and friends, where memories will be shared, stories told, and her legacy of love honored.

Ellen will be remembered for her generous heart, her steadfast devotion to her family, and the countless ways she made the world better simply by being in it.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in the form of donations to American Cancer Society or Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.